Mountain View school reunion at Giants' opener

By john reid

DAILY News STAFF WRITER

Posted:
04/07/2009 10:19:38 PM PDT

Updated:
04/07/2009 10:19:39 PM PDT

I awoke Tuesday morning not knowing if I would attend Opening Day at AT&T Park in San Francisco. It was supposed to rain and thunder and I'm a lightweight when it comes to inclement weather. The lure of Opening Day — the San Francisco Giants vs. the Milwaukee Brewers — was too great, so I drove down to the Palo Alto train station to board No. 233 at 9:11 a.m.

Opening Day is a tradition for many. For some, it's the only game they go to all year. I, an Awalt-Mountain View alum of '71, boarded, knowing I would meet my former basketball coach of three years at Awalt — Jerry "Goose" Gosland. Next to Goose was Dan "Gee Whiz" Jimenez (Awalt '72), a fine left-handed hitting outfielder for the Spartans in his day. Gosland, a former athletic director at Awalt, was the head varsity baseball coach at Awalt from 1973 to 1985.

This was an Awalt reunion, of sorts, with a heavy accent on baseball. The pregame tailgate in Lot A was hosted by Jeffrey "Huey" Hughes (Awalt '71), who was appearing at his 39th straight Giants home opener. (He keeps track, folks).

A host of former Awalt baseball players were present — Hughes, Mike "Yan-man" Yancey ('71), Rick "Swannee" Swanson ('71), Barry Thomas ('72), Rich "Ernie" Ekman ('71), Vince Ekman ('68) and Steve "Cal" Callahan ('70). Callahan, a second baseman, signed with the Philadelphia Phillies out of San Diego State, playing a year of minor-league ball.

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Once we had gathered, the rain persisted like an Amway salesman. Goose, wearing a classic Awalt baseball cap, hung an old Awalt baseball jersey on a pole to set the mood. The scuttlebutt going around was that a major storm was coming at about 1 p.m. More talk had the start pushed back to 1:45 p.m., but actual game time was at 1:29 p.m.

The stories of our glory (or not so glorious) days began to flow, among other things. Turns out Swanson once pitched to Steve Bartkowski, a three-sport star at then Buchser-Santa Clara ('71). Bartkowski went on to play football and baseball at Cal before becoming an NFL quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons. Bartkowski hit one a "half-mile" off Swanson that Jimenez tracked down some 450 feet away from home plate (no fence back then).

Swanson to Bartkowski: "Just another long out, Bart."

In the group next door was Ann Gustafson, who was Ann Cochrane when she attended Gunn-Palo Alto, class of '77. She was such a Giants fan growing up, she named her German shepherd Willie Mays after the Giants' Hall of Fame center fielder.

Joining our tailgate was James Draeger (Woodside Priory-Portola Valley '71), one of 10 siblings who own the Draeger's Market chain. Draeger's grandfather, Gustave, started the first Draeger's Market in San Francisco back in 1925. There are now four Draeger's stores — in Blackhawk, San Mateo, Menlo Park and Los Altos.

"I grew up on the Giants," James Draeger said. "I've come to a lot of Giants games."

The weather cleared up at about 12:30 p.m. The baseball Gods were surely with us. I ran into some luck in the packed press box, getting a seat on the front row because a writer didn't show up. The pregame ceremony pulled out all the stops in front of a sellout crowd — a sprawling American flag that covered the whole outfield, more bunting than the '62 Dodgers and "American Idol" idol Taylor Hicks, no less, singing the national anthem. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger — who saved 155 lives when he landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on Jan. 15 — threw out the first pitch. On the back of Sully's Giants jersey was the number 155. Clever.

The Giants took the field to the strains of their longtime theme song, "Bye, Bye, Baby."

I almost shed a tear.

The Giants showed some power with three home runs in a 10-6 win. One of the many messages that fans pay for to flash on the Jumbo scoreboard moved me:

"In loving memory of Anthony SanFilippo. Opening Day won't be the same without you."

Baseball is soul, even more soulful on Opening Day. Can't wait until Hughes' 40th straight Giants home opener. I plan to be there, rain or shine.